I know most people think of their slow cooker as a winter thing, slow cooking soups and stews all through the cold months. But these appliances are great for summer, too, because they cook without creating the same kind of heat in your kitchen.

But now, let’s talk tamales.

Mexican cuisine has a million ways to use corn, and tamales are just one of them. They’re a bit time-consuming, but as with anything that requires a little assembly, the key is to do a lot of them all at once, and then freeze the results.

If you’ve never had a tamale, it’s kind of like a package made of masa (or corn) dough, rolled around some kind of centre. Often this is meat, but of course, mine are not. The entire thing, dough and filling, is rolled in a corn husk, which keeps it all nicely together in a lovely package, and then steamed or cooked. The end result is a portable, delicious meal.

Lots of cultures use a similar method; here, we eat a lot of sticky rice; rice, wrapped around an either sweet or savoury filling, and then wrapped in banana or lotus leaves and steamed. It’s super popular at dim sum.

What’s great about making these in the IP is that it takes just 20 minutes to cook them, which is about half what it would take you to steam them on the stovetop.

A quick word about vegetable shortening, which this recipe calls for: some folks consider palm oil (which most vegetable shortenings contain) to not be vegan, as, even though it doesn’t contain animal products, it isn’t harvested in a sustainable way, and is contributing to deforestation and possibly the extinction of orangutans. It’s not an ingredient that I use very often, and I almost never buy it, but I think in this case, it’s needed. Feel free to try subbing in vegan butter if you prefer.

Vegan Tamales

Ingredients:

3 cups masa flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

8 oz (1 cup) vegetable shortening

1 cup vegetable stock

Filling of your choice: you could use refried beans, sautéed veggies, etc, I used BBQ Pulled Jackfruit

Corn husks/tamale wrappers

Method

In your mixer (could also do in a food processor, or with your hands), combine the dry ingredients, and then, with the motor running, slowly add in chunks of the shortening, one at a time, until it starts to resemble pea-like crumbs.

Again, with the motor running, slowly start to add in the vegetable stock, a little at a time, until everything is incorporated. You want the texture to be similar to hummus.

Cover and place in the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes or so, while you prepare the filling.

To assemble: take a large bowl and fill it with warm/as hot as you can stand water. Place the corn husks in it, and allow them to sit for 5 minutes or so to soften. Place a kitchen towel on your work surface, and put one of the husks on it, the wide end facing you. Place a dollop of the masa dough (around 1/4 cup?) on the husk, and then spread it out until it’s a flat layer, about 1/2″ thick. Place a dollop of the filling on the centre of the dough, and spread it out in a line. Then roll the whole thing up, from one side to another, making a kind of cigar with it, with the filling in the middle. Twist up the narrow end, and use a scrap of leftover corn husk to tie around the entire tamale to hold it in place. Place 1-2 cups of water or stock in the bottom of your Instant Pot, and place the trivet on top. Load the tamales, open end up, on their ends in the Instant pot, packing them in so they stand up. Place the lid on, and set for manual 20 minutes. When the pot has finished its cycle, release the pressure and remove the tamales. Unwrap and enjoy–serve with salsa!

I tend to cook with the seasons. That means I like to eat ingredients when they are seasonally available; which means fresh greens and fruit in the summer, heartier winter vegetables in the winter.

It’s been a long, hot summer here in Vancouver, with very little rain. It’s only just over the last few days that we’ve started to feel a change in the weather, and have been happy to see some badly-needed rain.

One of the things I love most about living here is our beautiful, warm falls. You can pretty much count on there being beautiful weather well into October.

So while Starbucks may be already pimping out the PSL, I’m going to try to enjoy the last bit of summer for a while.

However, I am turning to warmer recipes these days, now that it’s cooled down enough for me to turn on my oven. I’m loving my French Enamel cookware (I am lucky enough to now own TWO Staub Cocottes), which are busy these days making up pots of beans and soups and stews.

Even before I was a vegetarian, I made my chili without meat. I just don’t think it needs it, simply put. Chili, made with beans, especially, is so meaty and full of protein already. It really fills you up.

The spin on this one includes one of my favorite fall ingredients: butternut squash. It also includes and extra dose of protein in the form of quinoa.

It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, very warming and oh-so-filling. You can make this in your French Enamelware, or in your slow cooker.

Quinoa, Black Bean, Butternut Chili

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

5 cloves garlic

1 small can tomato paste

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste

4 c vegetable stock

1 can black beans, drained

1 smallish butternut squash

1 large (14-oz) can of diced tomatoes

1 c uncooked quinoa

1/4 c chopped cilantro

Method:

Heat your dutch oven over medium heat, and add a couple tablespoons of oil. Dice up the onion and add it to the pot. Season and stir well. Allow onions to sweat out for 5-10 minutes, until soft.

While the onions are cooking, cut the butternut squash in half, and peel. Scoop out the seeds, then cut into 1″ dice.

Finely dice the garlic and add it, stirring, just until fragrant. Now add all the spices and stir well so that they coat the onions and garlic.

Now add the squash, and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes or so more, allowing the edges to soften and pick up some colour.

Now add everything else, stir well, and taste for seasoning. Allow to simmer, partially covered, on top of the stove for about 20-30 minutes, until the squash is soft and everything is thick and comes together.

Before serving, taste and see if it needs more salt or heat. Stir in most of the cilantro, reserving a few leaves for garnish. Garnish with a sprinkling of cilantro, and slices of avocado, if you wish.

Hi, I’m Bex!

I’m a Social Media, Food & Travel Blogger, a caffeine-fueled shenanigan-seeker. Mom to Michael, the world’s greatest teenager, and a food critic in training. When I’m not Instagramming my experiments in the kitchen, you’ll find me riding my bike on the Seawall, or taking photos. My cookbook, “Aquafabulous!: 100+ Egg-Free Vegan Recipes Using Aquafaba” is available in stores and online. Welcome to my culinary adventures!